DNA species surveillance: Monitoring bushmeat poaching and trading in Kenya using partial cytochrome b gene
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Date
2012Author
Kimwele, C. N.
Karisa, B. K.
Stokes, M.
Junga, J. O
Hanotte, 0.
Skilton, R. A.
McElroy, O.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
DNA species identification has applications in such areas as forensic science, systematics,
conservation genetics and agriculture. One key anthropogenic activity threatening large wildlife fauna
is illegal exploitation. In Kenya, species identification of raw and processed meat products remains a
constraint to effective enforcement of illegal trade in game meat (bushmeat) and products. We tested
the reliability of a 321 bp mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) region as a species identification tool for
application in wildlife forensics. Query sequences were generated from known specimens of 14 Eastern
African wildlife species, 13 representing commonly poached ungulates, and three domesticated
species. These were compared, using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) algorithm, with NCBI
GenBank reference sequences for species identity. These query sequences were subsequently
deposited on Genbank. They represent a contribution to a diagnostic internal East African Wildlife
reference cyt b database. The test species comprised: Cape buffalo, bushbuck, Guenther's dik-dik,
common duiker, common eland, Grant's gazelle, hartebeest, impala, lesser kudu, plains zebra,
Thomson's gazelle, common warthog, wildebeest, Maasai ostrich, cattle, goat and sheep. Additionally,
cooked beef and pork samples were analyzed. The results show that, when conspecific sequences were
available in the database, species discrimination was 100%. Phylogeny clustering of the species by
maximum likelihood supported the species determination by BLAST. The second part of the study
carried out a preliminary survey of the prevalence of illegal game meat sold in the dispersal area of
Tsavo National Park, Kenya. Sixty two raw meat samples were randomly collected from small roadside
retail outlets along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway (A109), a major transnational highway that
transverses Tsavo National Park. The results indicate a 9.7% (n = 6) illegal game meat sale, comprising
five Guenther's dik-diks and a Beisa oryx. A 2 km radius hotspot, with 83% (n = 5) of the bushmeat sales
was identified just south of Tsavo East National Park.
URI
http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/10141http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB
Citation
African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 11(78), pp. 14276-14286, 27 September, 2012Subject
EastAfricaKenya
Bushmeat
Poaching
Wildlife conservation
Species identification
Mitochodrial cytochrome b gene